Chapter 108
Upon returning to the Underworld with Persephone, I saw several gods rubbing their tired eyes while looking at parchments.
Those expressions directed at me are undoubtedly resentful, thinking I alone went out to rest.
"Hades... lately you've been going out of the Underworld often..."
"The paperwork has piled up."
Goddess Styx hands me an armful of document piles.
Yes, yes. I know I have to do it.
"If you had come back later, Thanatos might have tried to escape again."
"Again?"
"Actually, I too felt the urge to give up."
God Hypnos shakes his head, avoiding my gaze.
For a while, I sat down and skillfully flipped through parchments, wielding a quill pen to sign off on documents.
Thank you all for your hard work, thanks to the chief god who's always wandering around.
Then, a document with the official seal of Olympus caught my eye.
I guess they didn't talk about work at Eros's wedding since I was there as a guest.
As I looked down at this for a moment, Goddess Lethe informed me of the document's identity.
"...That. It's an official document stating that Dike, the goddess of justice in Olympus, wants to move to the Underworld."
"I didn't see her at Eros's wedding earlier..."
"Why would the goddess of justice want to come down here instead of staying in Olympus?"
"It's not just a simple dispatch, but she wants to settle down here completely?"
"Hmm... Perhaps."
The gods who shared their opinions looked at me and muttered.
"Could it be the fifth (wife?)?"
"It's not."
Dike.
The goddess of justice born between Zeus and Themis.
As one of the Horai, goddesses of the seasons, she is the sister of Eunomia who oversees order, and Eirene who oversees peace.
Just as my other name is Pluto, she is also called Astraea or Iustitia.
"It seems she couldn't come to Eros's wedding earlier because she had work."
"What should we do about this? It's welcome to have another god come to the Underworld, but..."
"Yes. It's unclear why she wants to move to the Underworld. She might have had a conflict with another god..."
The goddess of justice, Dike, is quite a busy god.
Justice is a fundamental concept included in almost everything. It's one of the pillars that form civilization and order.
Even now, isn't she probably traveling the mortal world, judging the wicked and upholding justice?
"Let's call her to the Underworld for now. I'll need to talk with her and then decide."
"Yes. Then I'll send a letter to Olympus."
Why would Dike volunteer for such a difficult place? The Underworld is the worst workplace that everyone avoids.
Could it be that she thinks it's unjust to watch us suffer here?
...Surely that can't be the case.
***
And so, I looked at Dike kneeling on one knee in the audience chamber.
Golden hair indicating she's Zeus's daughter, strong divine power inherited from Themis, my aunt and Zeus's wife.
Beautiful appearance and a strong tone of speech that doesn't match it.
This high-ranking deity, who seems to be just below the 12 Olympian gods...
"...You can put down the sword and scales for now, or just float them in the air."
"I cannot do that, Great Uncle! If I separate these objects from my body even for a moment, justice won't stand..."
She was kneeling but still holding the scales and sword.
"It makes me uncomfortable to look at. And why are your eyes covered?"
"I will explain that reason now. It's related to why I want to stay in the Underworld."
The eyes of the goddess of justice had the power to see through injustice.
It was for tracking down all injustices, judging them, and upholding justice. But... why did she cover her eyes?
Dike began her story.
"As the goddess of justice, I traveled the world judging injustice. Mortals commit so many misdeeds. There were those like Sisyphus who tried to reject death, and those like Tantalus who were chilling. There were even humans who ran wild claiming to be Zeus, the king of gods and my father."
"There certainly was such a fellow. It was Salmoneus, Sisyphus's brother, wasn't it?"
Salmoneus.
Salmoneus, the brother of Sisyphus who tried to reject death, built his own kingdom in the Elis region and became king.
He was a great schemer who gathered people with his bare hands, increased his power, and eventually became king, but...
"Hahaha! I am the god Zeus!"
"Your Majesty...? What do you mean by that..."
Upon becoming king, he became obsessed with power and began to call himself Zeus and engage in all sorts of eccentric behavior.
Let's look at his atrocities one by one.
"Everything Zeus can do, I can do too! Look at this! Hahaha!"
"Your... Your Majesty!"
"Behold! This is the sound of Zeus's thunder!"
After building a bridge with steel, he drove a bronze chariot over it, imitating the sound of thunder.
At the same time...
"This is lightning! Hahaha!"
Whoosh-
"Ugh... Aaargh!"
"His Majesty has gone mad!"
"How dare you say Zeus is mad, execute all of them!"
He threw torches at the people, saying this was Zeus's lightning.
Of course, the actions of this insane human reached Olympus,
and Zeus dropped the weakest and lightest lightning bolt to show him what real lightning was.
Thus, Salmoneus's kingdom evaporated entirely... and numerous humans came to the Underworld.
"Salmoneus is now being punished in Tartarus, eternally driving a chariot."
"I've heard about that human's punishment. However..."
The goddess of justice bit her lip and said to me.
"Except for Salmoneus, the other humans didn't commit sins deserving death by lightning. I thought it was too harsh a punishment, even for my father! It was a punishment that made my scales tilt heavily to one side. Of course, there should be punishment for blasphemy, but killing even the humans who served him as king was too much... But this isn't all! The incident where God Apollo killed Orion last time..."
I also gave consideration to the other humans except Salmoneus in the Underworld.
I couldn't harshly judge those who were only guilty of being caught up in it.
She lists all sorts of evil deeds and sins of various gods. As she speaks, her divine power leaks out slightly as if she's bursting with indignation.
Of course, it must be frustrating for the goddess of justice to stay still in the face of injustice.
Hmm. I understand why you came here.
"...There were dozens of such cases... and also..."
"I get the gist of what you're saying, Dike."
"I still have more to say..."
"You want to stay in the Underworld to receive my protection."
***
The goddess of justice, Dike, is not one of the 12 Olympian gods.
Justice didn't wield much power in this world.
She had strong power as the daughter of Zeus, the king of gods, and the Titan goddess Themis, but that was all.
Whenever she tried to punish other gods who violated justice, she had to consider their backgrounds.
"Lord Poseidon?!"
"Dike. Even if my son played a little prank on humans..."
"What's wrong with a god punishing humans a little? You're a god too, yet you sound just like Great Uncle Hades..."
"Lady Artemis..."
"Wait, that's a beast I cherish. Even if it ate a few mortals..."
"Lord Dionysus..."
Dike's eyes had the powerful ability to see through injustice.
But she covered her own eyes with a blindfold.
If she can't do anything even when seeing injustice, what use are these eyes?
Dike's sword had the power to judge all injustice,
but she always had to hesitate before wielding it.
What use is this sword if hesitation taints its swing for justice?
Dike was clearly a deity of justice,
but those stronger than her were above justice, one of the pillars of order.
The passionate voice coming from Dike's mouth suddenly stopped.
She raised her head and looked up at me. The emotions visible in her were supplication, admiration, and desperation.
"Yes. Your guess is correct. Great Uncle... Lord Hades, you are called the god of mercy."
"......"
"Among the many Olympian gods, there aren't many whose scales tilt towards good. And to this extent..."
I looked at the scales in Dike's hand. They were steeply tilted to one side.
One side for good, the other for evil.
Those are scales that measure the weight of right and wrong.
A divine object of the goddess that even Zeus himself must face his karma with.
"At some point, I thought my place was no longer in Olympus but in the Underworld. I simply couldn't bear to open my eyes in Olympus..."
"......"
"Just as Nike, the goddess of victory, accompanies Athena, gods who oversee higher concepts sometimes lead gods who oversee lower concepts."
"I know that too. So..."
"You're already called the god of mercy by humans, but in my view, Lord Hades is the most fair and just god of all."
That's why Ares, the god of war, leads Deimos who signifies defeat and Phobos who signifies fear...
And Athena, the goddess of war, leads Nike, the goddess of victory...
"I, Dike, the goddess of justice, request to follow the lord of the Underworld and god of fairness."
A divine declaration filled with divine power echoed in the audience chamber.
It's less binding than an oath on the River Styx, but it's a resolution and declaration made on a god's divine status.
What Dike is saying now...
It's no different from acknowledging me as the god of fairness and asking me to accept her divine status of justice as a lower concept.
Is she asking me to become the god of fairness in addition to being the god of the Underworld, wealth, and mercy?